The National’s Matt Berninger and Ramona Falls/Menomena’s Brent Knopf have teamed up under the name EL VY. (Oddly enough, this marks the second National/Menomena partnership after Bryan Devendorf and Danny Seim joined forces as Pfarmers last year.) EL VY’s debut album, Return To The Moon, is out later this year on 4AD, and today they’ve shared the title track. “Return To The Moon” — which bears the curious subtitle “(Political Song For Didi Bloome To Sing, With Crescendo)” — pits Berninger’s unmistakably weary baritone against brighter, funkier music than we’ve come to expect. It’s still spiked with that familiar melancholy, though; it strikes me as an alternate-dimension version of Alligator-era National, “Secret Meeting” in particular. Watch a lyric video below, where you can also see the album’s tracklist and EL VY’s world tour dates.

Here’s some background on EL VY from a press release:

The album is a project Berninger and Knopf have been thinking about for years. Their friendship spans nearly a decade, starting back when the National and Menomena played small half-empty clubs along America’s west coast. Feeling an immediate musical kinship, the pair kept in touch, Brent sending Matt occasional rough sketches of music and Matt responding with melodies and lyrics. Finally, in the winter and spring of 2014-15, they actually got together to make an album.

Return To The Moon tracklist:

01 “Return To The Moon (Political Song For Didi Bloome To Sing, With Crescendo)”
02 “I’m The Man To Be”
03 “Paul Is Alive”
04 “Need A Friend”
05 “Silent Ivy Hotel”
06 “No Time To Crank The Sun”
07 “It’s A Game”
08 “Sleepin’ Light” (Feat. Ural Thomas)
09 “Sad Case”
10 “Happiness, Missouri”
11 “Careless”

Tour dates:

11/02 Portland, OR @ Doug Fir Lounge
11/03 Portland, OR @ Doug Fir Lounge
11/04 Seattle, WA @ Neumos
11/06 San Francisco, CA @ The Independent
11/07 Los Angeles, CA @ Troubadour
11/10 Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer
11/11 Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club
11/13 New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom
11/14 Brooklyn, NY @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
11/15 Boston, MA @ The Sinclair
11/16 Montreal, QC @ Theatre Fairmount
11/17 Toronto, ON @ Opera House
11/19 Chicago, IL @ Metro
11/20 Milwaukee, WI @ The Turner
11/21 Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue
12/01 Copenhagen, Denmark @ Pumpehuse
12/02 Hamburg, Germany @ Knust
12/03 Amsterdam, Netherlands @ Melkweg
12/04 Cologne, Germany @ Kantine
12/06 Berlin, Germany @ Astra
12/07 Brussels, Belgium @ AB
12/08 Paris, France @ Trabendo
12/10 London, England @ Electric Ballroom
12/12 Manchester, England @ Gorilla
12/13 Dublin, Ireland @ Whelans

Return To The Moon is out 10/30 on 4AD. Pre-order at iTunes and get “Return To The Moon” instantly, or pre-order a physical copy from the label.